CHAKWAL: The fate of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) candidate for NA-64 (Chakwal-I) Sardar Ghulam Abbas hangs in the balance as Lahore High Court’s (LHC) Rawalpindi bench is going to deliver its verdict on Wednesday on an appeal filed against the acceptance of his nomination papers by the returning officer (RO) in which he allegedly concealed his assets.

Advocate Qazi Umar Ahmed and Advocate Malik Zafran Zulfi of the District Bar Association Chakwal filed the objections with the RO on June 14. They maintained that Mr Abbas willfully concealed the source of his income and property and also presented incomplete information in conflict with the mandate of the Constitution.

“Sardar Abbas served Chakwal twice as the district nazim and a provincial minister but he does not have a national tax number (NTN),” said Advocate Qazi Umar Ahmed. He also accused Mr Abbas of having concealed more than 600 kanals of agricultural land and large number of cattle. “He not only concealed his agricultural land but also did not disclose commercial land measuring one kanal in Kallar Kahar,” Mr Ahmed told Dawn.

Sardar Ghulam Abbas did not fully disclose his assets in nomination papers filed with RO, says appeal filed by two lawyers

He said Mr Abbas did disclose his agricultural land and cattle but a large chunk of land and a large number of cattle were not mentioned in the nomination papers.

“Despite admitting the agricultural land and cattle Mr Abbas did not mention the income being received from the land and the cattle and he is also not a taxpayer,” Mr Ahmed maintained and sought rejection of Mr Abbas’ nomination papers on the ground that he did not come up to articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution.

However, the RO rejected the objections on June 19 after hearing the reply of Mr Abbas who responded through his council advocate Amir Butt.

The appeal against the acceptance of the nomination papers was then filed in the tribunal of the LHC. Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi heard the arguments of both the parties on June 25.

Mr Abbas himself did not appear before the court and later changed his counsel. Instead of his close aide Advocate Amir Butt, Mr Abbas hired Advocate Agha Mohammad Ali Khan who is also a retired justice of the LHC. Justice Lodhi reserved the verdict for June 27.

When contacted, Advocate Amir Butt said his client did not conceal agricultural land and cattle rather this was an omission done inadvertently.

“If Sardar Abbas does not have an NTN, it is up to the relevant institutions to issue him a notice but so far no such notice has been issued to him,” Mr Butt maintained.

He said the property which was omitted in the nomination papers was in the name of Mr Abbas’ father who died some years ago but the land was not transferred to Mr Abbas and his three other brothers.

“To transfer the land was the duty of concerned patwari but the government failed to do its job,” Mr Butt added.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2018